SR-027

February 2011

A Decade of Decline in Person Crossings From Mexico 

and Canada Into the United States

by Jenny Guarino

Special Report

RITA Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Nationwide Person Crossings

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has been 

maintaining the Border Crossing/Entry Database1 since 

1995 with data provided by the U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection (CBP) for inbound visitors.2

 Similar data is not 

currently available for departing travelers. 

1

 See Border Crossing/Entry Database for more information:

http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_BC/TBDR_BC_Index.

html 

2

 Data does not include vessel passengers other than ferry or individuals entering 

into the United States by air (approximately 18.7 million persons entered the United 

States from Canada or Mexico by air in 2009).

The number of persons crossing into the United States 

through its ports of entry3 along the Canadian and Mexican 

borders has been declining since 2000. Recently, researchers have proposed various reasons for the decline in person crossings, including (but not limited to) the economies 

of the three nations4 and increased security at the borders.5

This report does not examine reasons for the decline in 

person crossings, rather the trends in person crossings by 

mode are investigated.

In 2009, there were approximately 252 million person 

crossings into the United States from Mexico and Canada. 

The majority of those crossings (75 percent) took place 

along the Mexican border. Along both the northern and 

southern borders, a large proportion of crossings were with 

personal vehicles (77 percent; see table 1). An additional 

17 percent of total crossings were by pedestrians.6

3

 A port of entry is a place along the U.S. borders where one may lawfully enter the 

country (http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/ports/). 

4

 For more information on the economy and border crossings refer to: http://www.

wwu.edu/bpri/files/2010_Summer_Border_Brief.pdf or http://www.sandag.org/

programs/borders/binational/projects/2006_border_wait_impacts_execsum.pdf 

5

 For more information on security at the borders refer to:

http://www.sandiegodialogue.org/pdfs/Asa_Paper_June_03.pdf 

6

 Pedestrian counts include the number of persons arriving on foot or by certain 

conveyances (e.g., bicycles, mopeds, or wheel chairs). 

Figure 1: Ports of Entry1 Along the U.S.–Canada 

and U.S.–Mexico Borders

NOTE: There are 3 ports of entry in California in the top 10, but 2 are 

marked with 1 star as they are within 6 miles of one another: San Ysidro 

and Otay Mesa.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Border 

Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, August 

2010.

Table 1: Person Crossings by Mode, 2009

Mode Percent

Personal vehicle 77.25

Pedestrian 16.56

Truck 4.15

Bus 1.96

Train 0.09

NOTE: Numbers may not sum to 100 due to rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

Border Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department 

of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, 

August 2010.
BTS Special Report

2

Figure 2 illustrates yearly crossing variation between 2000 

and 2009 (indexed to 20007). As seen, person crossings 

have steadily decreased since 2000. Nationally, person 

crossings along U.S. land borders declined 37 percent (figure 2) from 2000 to 2009, from approximately 400 million 

persons to 252 million. Person crossings at the Canadian 

border declined most rapidly, falling 40 percent from 2000 

to 2009. Person crossings along the Mexican border also 

decreased, falling 36 percent.

To examine trends in person crossings at the U.S. land 

borders, figure 3 reviews crossings by mode of travel (e.g., 

truck, bus, train, personal vehicle, or pedestrian). While 

BTS documents the total number of persons crossing in 

each train, bus, and personal vehicle, total persons by truck 

is not currently recorded in the Border Crossing/Entry Database. To estimate the number of persons crossing into the 

United States by truck, the average number of passengers 

per truck was derived from data provided by the CBP.8

As shown in figure 3, person crossings by personal vehicles decreased 41 percent from 2000 to 2009, the greatest 

decline of any mode. Border crossings by personal vehicle 

7

 An index is used to see how person crossings have changed over the years. 

Year 2000 is used as a baseline and all subsequent years are compared against 

it. Numbers less than 1 represent a decrease in person crossings (as compared 

to 2000), while numbers greater than 1 represent an increase in person crossings 

above the 2000 rate.

8

 An average of 1.197(with a range of 1.155–1.341) passengers per truck was 

derived for crossings along the Canadian border. For crossings at the Mexican 

border, an average of 1.033 (with a range of 1.002–1.091) passengers per truck was 

used.

was the only mode without a prominent increase during the 

time period studied.

In contrast, only pedestrian crossings increased above 

the 2000 level at any time in the subsequent 9 years. A 10 

percent increase occurred in 2001 followed by a steady 

decline until 2007. In 2007, pedestrian traffic increased 

briefly, by 7 percent, before declining in the following years. 

By 2009, 13 percent fewer pedestrian crossings occurred 

than in 2000. 

Person Crossings at the Canadian Border

In 2009, approximately 62.6 million persons crossed into 

the United States utilizing ports along the U.S.–Canadian 

border. As seen in table 2, the majority of these persons (86 

percent) crossed by personal vehicle. 

Figure 2: Incoming Person Crossing Index 

Through U.S. Land Borders, 2000-2009

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1.1

Total

Canada

Mexico

Index = 2000

NOTE: “Total” includes all person crossings into the United States from 

Mexico or Canada.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

Border Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department 

of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, 

August 2010.

Figure 3: Incoming Person Crossing Index 

Through U.S. Land Borders by Mode, 2000-2009

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1.1

1.2

Truck

Personal vehicle

Train

Bus

Pedestrian

Total

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Index = 2000

NOTE: “Total” includes total person crossings (e.g., by all modes) into 

the United States from Canada and Mexico.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

Border Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department 

of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, 

August 2010.

Table 2: Person Crossings by Mode at the Canadian 

Border, 2009

Mode Percent

Personal vehicle 85.45

Truck 9.60

Bus 4.00

Pedestrian 0.61

Train 0.35

NOTE: Numbers may not sum to 100 due to rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Border 

Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, August 

2010.
BTS Special Report

3

As seen in figure 4, a decrease in person crossings is 

present for all modes of travel in recent years. A notable 

exception occurred from 2000 to 2002, with an increase in 

pedestrian crossing (85 percent). On average, less than 1 

percent of persons crossing along the Canadian border are 

pedestrians. 

In 2002, approximately 497,000 more pedestrians crossed 

into the United States along the Canadian border than in 

2000 (1.3 percent of total crossings – 2002). As pedestrian 

crossings are a small proportion of total crossings, such 

fluctuations are not present in the overall crossing trend line 

for the Canadian border (see figure 4). In contrast, personal 

vehicle crossings account for 84 percent (on average) of 

total crossings. As person crossings by personal vehicle 

account for such a large proportion of total crossings, total 

crossings tend to rise and fall in tandem with personal 

vehicles.

Table 3 displays changes in person crossings at the State 

level. As seen in the table, person crossings at the Canadian border have been steadily decreasing since 2000, 

with few States (e.g., Alaska) experiencing an increase in 

crossings. Since 2000, Michigan experienced the greatest 

Figure 4: Incoming Person Crossing Index at 

the Canadian Border by Mode, 2000-2009

0.5

0.7

0.9

1.1

1.3

1.5

1.7

1.9

Truck

Personal vehicle

Train

Bus

Pedestrian

Total

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Index = 2000

NOTE: “Total” includes total person crossings (e.g., by all modes) into the 

United States from Canada.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Border 

Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, August 2010.

Table 3: Incoming Person Crossing Index at the Canadian Border by U.S. State, 

2000-2009

(Index = 2000, values in parenthesis are total crossings in millions of persons)

Year

Total, all Canada 

gateways Alaska Washington Idaho Montana

2000 1.00 (104.2) 1.00 (0.5) 1.00 (15.9) 1.00 (0.6) 1.00 (1.8)

2001 0.85 (88.5) 0.95 (0.44) 0.89 (14.1) 0.95 (0.57) 0.91 (1.6)

2002 0.79 (82.8) 0.96 (0.44) 0.72 (11.4) 0.82 (0.50) 0.89 (1.6)

2003 0.72 (75.1) 0.97 (0.45) 0.68 (10.8) 0.73 (0.44) 0.89 (1.6)

2004 0.73 (76.5) 1.02 (0.47) 0.73 (11.5) 0.71 (0.43) 0.91 (1.6)

2005 0.72 (75.3) 1.02 (0.47) 0.72 (11.5) 0.74 (0.45) 0.97 (1.7)

2006 0.72 (75.2) 0.99 (0.46) 0.76 (12.1) 0.78 (0.47) 1.03 (1.8)

2007 0.68 (70.4) 1.02 (0.47) 0.72 (11.5) 0.79 (0.48) 0.85 (1.5)

2008 0.66 (65.6) 0.97 (0.45) 0.76 (12.1) 1.02 (0.61) 0.80 (1.4)

2009 0.60 (62.6) 0.98 (0.46) 0.77 (12.2) 0.89 (0.54) 0.77 (1.3)

North Dakota Minnesota Michigan New York Vermont Maine

2000 1.00 (2.2) 1.00 (3.3) 1.00 (36.9) 1.00 (30.5) 1.00 (3.7) 1.00 (8.8)

2001 0.93 (2.1) 0.91 (3.0) 0.71 (26.3) 0.96 (29.2) 0.95 (3.5) 0.87 (7.6)

2002 0.95 (2.1) 0.84 (2.8) 0.62 (22.7) 1.01 (30.9) 0.93 (3.4) 0.78 (6.8)

2003 0.91 (2.0) 0.87 (2.9) 0.57 (20.9) 0.85 (26.0) 0.87 (3.2) 0.77 (6.8)

2004 0.93 (2.1) 0.93 (3.1) 0.56 (20.7) 0.85 (25.9) 0.86 (3.2) 0.85 (7.5)

2005 0.93 (2.1) 0.89 (2.9) 0.57 (20.9) 0.82 (25.1) 0.71 (2.6) 0.86 (7.6)

2006 0.92 (2.0) 0.83 (2.8) 0.54 (20.0) 0.81 (24.9) 0.88 (3.3) 0.84 (7.4)

2007 0.91 (2.0) 0.70 (2.3) 0.52 (19.1) 0.79 (24.2) 0.86 (3.2) 0.64 (5.6)

2008 0.94 (2.1) 0.70 (2.3) 0.47 (17.3) 0.76 (23.2) 0.94 (3.5) 0.63 (5.5)

2009 0.81 (1.8) 0.67 (2.2) 0.40 (14.7) 0.70 (21.3) 0.82 (3.1) 0.57 (4.9)

NOTE: All data in the above table is indexed to year 2000 and depict the change in border crossings each year relative to the traffic observed in 2000. 

For example, the 0.85 in 2001 for the U.S.–Canada Border means that person crossings were 15 percent lower in 2001 than in 2000. A number above 

1 (e.g., 1.02 in 2004 at Alaska) represents a number of person crossings above the 2000 rate.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Border Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, August 2010.
BTS Special Report

4

decline in person crossings, falling 60 percent by 2009. 

Crossings at Alaska points of entry declined the least, down 

only 2 percent by 2009.

As seen in figure 5, the proportion of crossings at many 

States was similar in 2000 and 2009. Since 2000, the 

proportion of person crossings increased the most in New 

York and Washington. In 2009, Michigan, New York, and 

Washington saw the greatest percentage of person crossings on the Canadian border, accounting for 76.96 percent 

of all person crossings (23.46, 33.97, and 19.53 percent 

respectively). 

Person Crossings at the Mexican Border

In 2009, approximately 189.2 million persons crossed 

into the United States through 25 ports of entry along the 

Mexican border. As seen in table 4, the majority of persons 

crossing into the United States along the Mexican border in 

2009 did so with personal vehicles. A large proportion (22 

percent) of total traffic is due to pedestrian crossings.

Figure 6 examines the variation in person crossings by 

mode along the Mexican border since 2000. Similar to 

person crossings at the Canadian border, total person 

crossings at the Mexican border have been declining since 

2000. While all modes experienced a decrease in person 

crossings, person crossings by train experienced the greatest fluctuation (see figure 6). This can be attributed to the 

relatively small proportion of person crossings that take 

place by train, on average less than 1 percent. The majority of trains crossing into the United States from Mexico are 

freight trains, carrying only crew and operators.9

 

The sharpest drop (81 percent) in person crossings by train 

took place from 2008 to 2009, with only 4,187 persons 

crossing by train in 2009. This drop can be attributed to 

a crew change that occurs at Texas ports of entry. Beginning in 2009, Mexican crews exit trains before entering the 

United States. At the border, American train crews replace 

the Mexican crews and take over operations. While the 

Mexican crews previously were processed by U.S. Customs, the U.S. crews are not considered to be entering 

the United States. Therefore, at those locations train crew 

crossings are not recorded in the CBP database.

9

 There are no regularly scheduled passenger trains across the U.S.-Mexico border 

— only some excursion and irregularly operated special trains.

Figure 5: Proportion of Person Crossings at the 

Canadian Border by U.S. State, 2000 and 2009

(as a percent of total person crossings in Canada 

each year)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2009 2000

AK WA ID MT ND MI MN NY VT ME

NOTE: Idaho and Alaska were removed from above figure as they account for less than one percent of total person crossings each year.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

Border Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department 

of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, 

August 2010.

Table 4: Person Crossings by Mode at the 

Mexican Border, 2009

Mode Percent

Personal vehicle 74.53

Pedestrian 21.84

Truck 2.34

Bus 1.28

Train —

NOTE: — = less than one-hundreth of one percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

Border Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department 

of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, 

August 2010.

Figure 6: Incoming Person Crossing Index at the 

Mexican Border by Mode, 2000-2009

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Truck

Personal 

vehicle

Train

Pedestrian Bus

Total 

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

NOTE: “Total” includes total person crossings (e.g., by all modes) into 

the United States from Mexico. 

In 2009, there were no incoming rail passengers or crew entering the 

United States from Mexico through the land border ports in Texas. Mexican crews on U.S. bound freight trains currently do not cross the border 

into the United States or go through U.S. Customs processing.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

Border Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department 

of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, 

August 2010.
BTS Special Report

5

While the largest percentage decline in person crossings 

by any mode from 2008 to 2009 was by train due to the 

change in operating practices regarding the crew changes, 

all modes saw a percentage reduction in the number of person crossings since 2008. Pedestrian crossings and private 

vehicle passenger crossings decreased the least; falling 8 

and 11 percent respectively. Additionally, truck passenger 

crossings were down 12 percent and crossings by bus 

dropped 30 percent from 2008 to 2009.

From 2000 to 2009, the number of person crossings into 

California and Texas decreased at a steady rate (see table 

5). The largest increase in person crossings took place in 

New Mexico in 2007; at this time crossings were 60 percent 

higher than 2000. Aside from a brief increase in person 

crossings in Arizona (2002), New Mexico was the only 

State along the Mexican border to experience a growth in 

total person crossings (relative to 2000). 

Although New Mexico has seen an increase in the number 

of person crossings in recent years, it represents a small 

proportion of total crossings along the Mexican border. 

Person crossings into New Mexico are, on average, 0.9 

percent of total Mexican border crossings, with more than 

half (51 percent) taking place at ports of entry in Texas (see 

figure 7). 

Table 5: Incoming Person Crossing Index at the Mexican Border by U.S. State, 

2000-2009

(Index=2000, values in parenthesis are total crossings in millions of persons)

Year

Total, all Mexico 

gateways Arizona California New Mexico Texas

2000 1.00 (295.0) 1.00 (35.8) 1.00 (95.9) 1.00 (1.8) 1.00 (161.5)

2001 0.91 (268.4) 0.93 (33.2) 0.95 (91.6) 0.87 (1.6) 0.88 (142.0)

2002 0.87 (257.8) 1.04 (37.1) 0.94 (89.7) 1.10 (2.0) 0.80 (129.0)

2003 0.85 (250.5) 0.95 (34.1) 0.95 (96.1) 1.06 (1.9) 0.76 (122.9)

2004 0.84 (247.1) 0.97 (34.8) 0.91 (87.1) 1.06 (1.9) 0.76 (123.3)

2005 0.81 (239.9) 0.93 (33.2) 0.89 (85.4) 1.20 (2.2) 0.74 (119.1)

2006 0.79 (233.6) 0.91 (32.5) 0.87 (83.5) 1.30 (2.4) 0.71 (115.3)

2007 0.75 (225.5) 0.90 (32.1) 0.80 (77.0) 1.60 (2.9) 0.68 (110.6)

2008 0.72 (211.3) 0.83 (29.6) 0.74 (70.5) 1.29 (2.3) 0.67 (108.9)

2009 0.64 (189.2) 0.73 (26.2) 0.68 (64.7) 1.45 (2.6) 0.59 (95.6)

NOTE: All data in the above table is indexed to year 2000 and depict the change in border crossings each year 

relative to the traffic observed in 2000. For example, the value of 0.95 at California in 2001 depicts a 5-percent drop 

in person crossings relative to the 2000 numbers along the California/Mexico border. Likewise, 1.45 at New Mexico 

in 2009 represents a 45-percent increase in crossings relative to the 2000 numbers along the New Mexico/Mexico 

border.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics, Border Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, August 2010.

Figure 7: Proportion of Person Crossings at the 

Mexican Border by U.S. State, 2000 and 2009

(as percent of total person crossings in Mexico 

each year)

California Arizona Texas

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2000 2009

NOTE: New Mexico was not included in the above graph as it accounts 

for less than two percent of total crossings in 2000 and 2009.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

Border Crossing/Entry Database; based on data from U.S. Department 

of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, OMR database, 

August 2010.
BTS Special Report

6

About This Report

Data

• http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_BC/TBDR_BC_Index.html 

Publications

•	 Transportation Statistics Annual Report (TSAR)

This report was prepared by Jenny Guarino, a Mathematical Statistician in the Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics (BTS). BTS is a component of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration (RITA).

Theresa Firestine, an Economist in BTS, provided 

special assistance in creating the map. Special thanks 

to Steve Beningo, an International Transportation Specialist at BTS, for his rigorous reviews and assistance.

For questions about this, or other BTS special reports, 

call 1-800-835-1351, email answers@bts.gov, or visit 

www.bts.gov.